The Water Pistol Shoot-Out: Over-Tourism in Barcelona. Behind the Headlines.
Amid growing concern over the volume of tourists heading to the Catalonian City, Elliot Hartley visits in peak summer to report on the on-the-ground situation.
Towards the start of July the world witnessed scenes of around 2,800 anti-tourism protesters in Barcelona, Spain, spraying water pistols at unsuspecting tourists. Protesters chanted the slogan ‘tourists go home’, and displayed placards saying ‘Barcelona is not for sale’.
Why are they protesting?
There is growing concern that Barcelona has a housing problem, with many locals complaining of overinflated property prices in the city, pushed up by tourists.
Barcelona’s Socialist Mayor Jaume Collboni told the press over 10,000 tourist apartment rentals will be banned by 2028 in order to get a grip of the problem.
Rentals in the city have increased by 9.8% over the past year meaning many locals have struggled to afford rent. The huge growth of Airbnb and other app-based rental platforms has meant anyone with a property in the town is now a prospective property entrepreneur.
They are also protesting against the tourism-based economy which has become overly reliant on foreign visitors as the main source of income. It is a problem that is troubling global destinations of similar appeal.
Not just Barcelona…
Before the Olympics in Paris began pleas have spread on social media urging tourists to avoid traveling to the city. In Athens anti-tourist graffiti has sprung up around the city. In Venice a €5 fee has been introduced to manage the amount of tourists.
So what is the situation on the ground in Barcelona?
I took to the streets. Being a first time visitor there was plenty to learn. The town flows out from a Gothic Quarter, with higgledy-piggledy apartments compressed together in streets shaded from the sun.
Numerous souvenir shops, targeted specifically at less discerning tourists, display tacky underwear with provocative slogans in English. G-strings with MILF and other brow-raising slogans are clearly on view.
It is blatantly catering for the pile-it-high, sell-it-cheap brigade, the hop-on-a-plane, cheap-thrills STAG parties, the shops uncomfortably brushing shoulders against the medieval walls. Perhaps these would be a worthy target for the water-pistol warriors?
During my four day visit to the city I only experienced warm Catalonia hospitality. The only water being sprayed came from the hoses hydrating the spectacular Ciutadella park we strolled through. There are few visual signs of unrest. I saw only a handful of anti-tourist graffiti during my stay.
It’s not so much about the sheer number of tourists, more about where they are concentrated. Strategic thinking about how to relieve pressure on the must-do attractions is the key. Educating tourists about alternative, less well known attractions can work. I enjoyed reading the book ‘111 Places in Barcelona That You Must Not Miss’ which focuses on less well known, smaller and more eclectic attractions across the city. This series of books is a welcome antidote to ‘Top 10 Barcelona’ by DK Eyewitness, which only serves to encourage effortless checklist tourism.
The biggest crowds in Barcelona can be seen squeezing for a good view of the most popular tourist attraction, the Sagrada Familia cathedral, designed by world renowned architect Gaudí. It is overcrowded with the hotspot attracting street vendors pushing cheap trinkets. Entrance is via an online ticketing system aiming to stagger the pressure on the queues, but demand is huge and it’s tricky to get a ticket at less than 24 hours notice.
Just a few metro stops away we stayed in the El Poblenou neighbourhood, which was far more tranquil and not overcrowded - but for how long? From our hotel I watched workers busily extending the Travelodge opposite, Barcelona’s bed capacity being clearly increased to cope with demand.
The challenges facing Barcelona are not unique, but the way in which the city responds to the pressures from both the tourists and locals, might help guide other destinations grappling with a similar headache.